Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An unusual Second World War O.B.E. group of six awarded to Wing Commander G. W. Houghton, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who was an official R.A.F. war correspondent in the Middle East and afterwards the Officer in Charge of the Public Relations Section of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force in North-West Europe 1944-45: his earlier experiences in the Western Desert are recorded in his book They Flew Through Sand

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 2nd type breast badge, silver-gilt; 1939-45 Star; Africa Star, 1 clasp, North Africa 1942-43; Italy Star; France and Germany Star; War Medal 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf, with named card box of issue, addressed to ‘G/Cpt. G. W. Houghton, Spinney Nook, Broadway, Letchworth, Herts.’, mounted court-style as worn, good very fine and better (6) £500-£700

Dix Noonan Webb, March 2010.

O.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1945.
The original Recommendation states: ‘Group Captain G. W. Houghton has been in charge of the Public Relations Section of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force for almost the entire period since the landings in Normandy on ‘D’ Day and has been the greatest assistance in the building up of the Inter-Allied Public Relations Organisation. He has, more recently, been the main link with the Air Ministry on this work, and has personally established an extremely efficient organisation with the units in the field. His tireless work and loyal support, especially during the landings in Normandy, have aided the maintenance of the very standards attained by his section.’

M.I.D. London Gazettes 1 January 1943 (Squadron Leader); 17 September 1943 (Acting Wing Commander).

George William Houghton was born in Perth, Scotland in September 1905 and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the Administrative and Special Duties Branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in April 1940, where his pre-war qualifications as a journalist were quickly put to use. Posted to the Middle East as an official R.A.F. war correspondent, he visited many units and locations in the Western Desert, and came into contact with numerous personalities of the Desert Air Force, “Imshi” Mason among them. He also regularly came under fire during enemy raids. In addition to his powers of observation and gifts as a writer, Houghton was also a competent artist, and a number of his drawings and sketches were reproduced in his popular wartime title They Flew Through Sand - soon after the war he dramatised one of the incidents described in the book for the B.B.C., and the lead actor, Kenneth More (fresh from active service in the Royal Navy) was praised for his performance by the Royal Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. Houghton was twice Mentioned in Despatches for his services in North Africa and had attained the acting rank of Wing Commander by the time he returned home from the Mediterranean theatre.

Next employed as Officer in Charge of the Public Relations Section of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force in North-West Europe 1944-45, a role that included him witnessing the Normandy landings, Houghton ended the War in the rank of Acting Group Captain and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. He finally relinquished his commission in the R.A.F.V.R. in February 1954, retaining the rank of Group Captain. In later life he was an avid golfer and cartoonist, who drew over 300 cartoons a year, and also wrote over 38 humours books as well as numerous short stories.

Sold with the recipient’s two Mentioned in Despatches Certificates in envelope addressed to ‘Wing Commander G. W. Houghton, O.B.E., National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place, S.W.1’; the recipient’s passport; a framed and glazed portrait photograph of recipient in uniform; a copied photograph of the recipient in North Africa, 1942; two copies of They Flew Through Sand, The Notes and Sketches of an R.A.F. Officer in the Western Desert, by George W. Houghton, the first the 1942 original; the second a 1991 reprint; a copy of ‘The Adventures of a Gadabout’, by George Houghton; a copy of ‘How to be a Golf Addict’, by George Houghton; and copied research.